Dry cell



March 30 1926.

w. F. HENDRY DRY CELL Filed Dec. 27, 1923 IIIWENTOR my v 1170mm PatentedMar. 30, 1926.

1,578,891 PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM I. EENDRY, 0F OSSINING, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO MANI HAT'IAN ELEC-TBICAL SUPPLY COMPANY, INCORPORATED, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A.CORPORA- momor MASSACHUSETTS.

DRY CELL.

Application filed December 27, 1923. Serial No. 682,930.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM F. HENDRY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Ossining, in the county of Westchester and State of NewYork, United States of America, having invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Dry Cells (Case #8), do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

This invention relates todry cells and more particularly to an improveddry cell structure for facilitating the distribution of liquidtherethrough.

It is the object of the present invention to increase the eiiiciency ofa dry cell by decreasing its internal resistance and also by providingmeans for freer circulation of gas generated by the reactionstakingplace in the cell.

In accordance with the main feature of the present invention, groovesare provided around the depolarizing mix surrounding a centrally locatedcarbon electrode for affording passage of liquid around the mass ofdepolarizing mix and to the bibulous container surrounding the latterand separating it from the zinc electrode, and also free circulation ofgas.

The invention will be more clearly understood from the followingdetailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a vertical crosssection of a portion of a drycell embodying various features of the present invention,

' and Fig. 2 is a plan view of a washer or tablet, a plurality of whichserve to make up a cell.

Referring now to Fig. 1, 1 is a zinc container electrode, 2 a paper orother bibulous or cellulose lining inside of this electrode, 3aretablets or washers compacted of a suitable depolarizing mixture, 4 is acarbon electrode projecting through the tablets 3. Each tablet 3 (Fig.2) is provided with grooves 5 radiating from the center towards itsperiphery. These grooves are preferably continued down the sides of thetablets as indicated at 6. Furthermore, the outside periphery of eachwasher 3 is bevelled, whereby when two washers are laid one on top ofthe other, the bevelled surfaces will form a triangular trou h 7 allaround the tablets and therefore t e depolarizing mix.

. of the cell, due to the difficulty of circulation of gas and moistureto facilitate electrolytic conduction and necessary chemical reactions.

I am aware that this impervious layer is attributed to various causessuch, for example, as the formation of insoluble double salts of zincand ammonium, and numerous remedies have been proposed to dissolve,neutralize or counteract the formation of such salts. It is not at thistime necessary to consider the causes of the phenomenon, but merely topoint out that whatever the cause, my proposed improvement providesmeans whereby the gas and moisture can escape from the body of the mixinto the radial grooves, through them to the circumferential grooves andthus reach the active zone much more readily than in any previousconstruction of dry cell. l

In order thoroughly to moisten the paper lining, it was the practicefirst to moisten the paper provided within the zinc can and then tointroduce the mass of depolarizing mixture. The moistened paper toreeasily during successive handling and this caused a relatively highpercentage of damaged batteries. The provision of the troughs 7 and alsogrooves 6 eliminates the necessity of first humidifying the paper 2.Liquid (with or without suitable chemicals) may be poured in the cellafter the tablets 3 and the carbon 1 are in place, and the grooves 5, 6and 7 will insure the proper distribution of the liquid throughout thecell.

The invention is in many respects an improvement on the structuredisclosed in my copending application Serial No. 673,538, filed November8, 1923, andthe ann'ularly grooved tablets disclosed herein may be usedin the combinations illustrated in my said application. It will beobvious to those skilled in the art that the number and direction of thecorrugations 5 may be varied, that the corrugations 6 may be eliminatedto decrease the cost of manufacturing and that the invention is notnecessarily limited to dry cells composed of washers or tablets sagewaysaround said mix into which said first mentioned passageways. open.

2. In a dry cell, two electrodes, tablets compacted of depolarizing mixseparating said electrodes, grooves in the upper and lower faces of saidtablets, and grooves around said tablets. v

3; In a dry cell, a container electrode, a

second electrode centrally located therein, a

plurality of tablets compacted of depolariztuted by bevelled edges ofadjacent tablets,

and grooves in the upper and lower'faces of said tablets radiatingtowards said annular grooves.

4. Ina dry cell, a zinc container electrode, a carbon electrode withinsaid zinc electrode, depolarizing mix surrounding said carbon electrode,a lining of paper separating said mix from the zinc electrode, groovesaround said mix, and passageways radiating through said mix leadingtowards and opening into said grooves.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 18th day ofDecember, 1923.'

WILLIAM F. HENDRY.

